Restless
by liviesmith
Summary: Please read! Set in future and mostly about Terri and Charlotte. More to come soon.
1. Terri's daughter Anna

Chapter 1

Terri Sullivan felt the wind go through her hair. She smiled as she saw her 4 year old daughter, Anna, play happily amongst the other children on the playground. Other mothers were also gathering, as preschool was due to finish soon. Terri felt someone sit next to her and turned to see one of her old colleague friends from All Saints, Charlotte. Their had been tension previously between the pair over Charlotte's child's father being Terri's ex, but all that was gone now. Charlotte was obviously delighted to see her.

"Terri! How are you? I suppose you're here to pick up Anna?" "It's lovely to see you Charlotte. I'm fine, and yes I'm picking up Anna. How are Patrick and Felicity?" The pair chatted for a while. The whole thing over Terri's ex had cleared away a long time ago. At the time Terri had just broken up with the young Dr. Jack Quade, and so had Charlotte with her girlfriend. The pair had set put to comfort each other at the pub, and had ended up having a drunken one-night stand. Charlotte had ended up pregnant, to her dismay. She had wanted a baby very much, but not in that way. The first to find out had been Charlotte's ex-husband but still close friend, Vincent. It had been kept like that for a time before it came obvious for everyone else. Charlotte told Jack, but he could not accept it, desperately trying to get back with Terri, which he did eventually. But it hadn't lasted long. When Terri first found out, she was rather shocked and hurt, but those wounds had healed over now. It had all been a long time ago.

The children of the preschool were now filing out of the gates, and rushing to their various parents. Heading in Charlotte and Terri's direction were three gorgeous children: a pair of blonde twins and a little girl with brown plaits. The boy of the group tugged at Charlotte's arm impatiently. "Mum..." he said. "Can we go to Uncle Vincent's house tonight? Please?" Terri smiled at this. "Uncle Vincent?" she questioned to Charlotte. "Yep, Uncle Vincent's it is." Charlotte laughed, before whispering into Terri's ear: "The so-called Uncle Vincent is really cool and funny. The twins adore him. It's good for them to have such a positive male role model. Specially for Patrick." Terri smiled but also sighed at the same time. Anna didn't have many responsible males in her life, which was a shame. She grew more like Mitch every day. He would of loved to see her born, and grow up. A small tear went down Terri's cheek. Nothing would make her forget Mitch.

Charlotte cleared her throat to speak, so Terri quickly wiped over her face. "It would be great to catch up with you, Terri, properly I mean. Maybe we can meet sometime... I think I've got a picnic coming up soon, with Vincent and the twins and me. You'd be most welcome to come." Terri turned to see a sweet little face beside her, gently tugging on her sleeve. "It would be great if we could go, Mummy. I would like to play with Felicity, and meet Uncle Vincent. Patrick said he's really cool." How could Terri possibly put down that innocent little face? "Alright," she said. "Should be great. I'm sure Anna would really enjoy herself, and it would be great to catch up with you and Vincent. Thanks for the offer. What sort of time?" "Oh, I'll call you closer to the date," Charlotte replied. "You been doing much casual work lately?" "Oh, only every odd month or so. I'll be taking up more when Anna starts school." "C'mon Mum," Patrick moaned. "Let's go to Uncle Vinnie's!" "Well, it looks like I'm going," said Charlotte, laughing. "Anyway, it'll be good to see you soon, Terri. Oh, and bye Anna!" The petite little figure waved a small hand as Charlotte was pulled towards the carpark. Terri stood up also. "We better go, Anna. We're having something special for dinner tonight."

It was late at night when Terri was laying it bed, listening to the soft breathing of her daughter. Anna was fast asleep, her dreams full of fairytales and fantasies. Terri took a deep breath, trying to stop the silent tears from trickling down her face. Clear in view, on the bedside table, showed a photo of Mitch and Terri on their wedding day. Another showed Mitch and his daughter, Lucy. She would be a lot older now. Terri knew Mitch would have loved both his daughters very much, if he were still alive. Another photo on the dresser showed a happy day, on which Anna was born. Surrounding Terri were her closest friends and colleagues. Most the staff had visited that day. Terri smiled as she went onto the next photo frame, a portrait of her and Anna, at two years of age. She was such a delightful little girl.

When Terri awoke the next morning it was to Anna jumping on the bed, excited. "You said we'd had pancakes for breakfast today! Remember?" "How could I forget," murmured Terri sleepily, putting on her slippers. "We better start making them." She must have got a bit of sleep, anyway. It was while they were preparing the batter that Anna piped up: "Mummy, who come every else has a Mummy and Daddy? How come I only have a Mummy?" Terri tried not to cry. She took a deep breath, and bit her lip. She knew in the future only more of these questions would come, and she would have to be able to handle them. She tried to make it something Anna would understand. "Well, you see, darling, you had a Daddy too. He would of... I mean, he loved you very much. Him and me were married, and happy." "What happened?" asked Anna, in her little innocent little voice. Terri took yet another deep breath. "Well Daddy suddenly got very sick. He had to have an operation, and... well..." She couldn't finish it. To her utter surprise, Anna was the one who did. "Didn't he make it?" she asked. Terri nodded, confused. Anna seemed to understand. "Regina taught me that, when you had to drop into work and was busy. I got to visit some of the patients. I was her special helper." Anna grinned with pride, but then suddenly turned downcast. "I suppose I don't have a Daddy then, do I? Like everyone else?" She looked rather sad, and it was breaking Terri's heart. "Anna... Anna..." "Wait a moment! Felicity and Patrick don't have a Daddy either!" This relieved Terri, as Anna looked a whole lot happier. But she had touched a tender point. Anna would grow up without a father, a challenge she would face her entire life.

That afternoon as Anna was having a nap, Terri sorted through the different photo albums for something to do. There were two main sections: the first involving before Mitch's death and the other after Anna's birth. There were few in between. Terri was flipping quickly through that section, when she discovered a photo stuck in between two pages. She finally managed to pull it out, and to her shock it was none other than one of her and Jack! She gulped. What was that doing there? In all places? And after all this time?

Terri seized the photo and lifted the bin lid. She hesitated. Why? It was all over ages ago! Jack had run off to New Zealand, for goodness sakes, with that doll face young nurse Kayla! He had nothing to do with her anymore! Terri let it drop, but felt torn. Why was she feeling like this?


	2. Shocking news

Chapter 2 

It was a glorious sunny day. Anna was dressed for the occasion- matching her pink dress was her shoes and hairclips. Terri was rather summery herself- in a casual, nice blue blouse. As Anna got more excited by the minute, Terri found herself looking forward to it very much as well. It would be great to talk to Vincent and catch up on things, what was happening at All Saints. It would also be great just to chat more with Charlotte and share stories.

When they arrived at the picnicking area, Terri very soon spotted the others- Vincent was playing with the twins while Charlotte was unpacking. The twins certainly adored him. It looked like a very happy family. Anyone could mistake them for husband and wife- though Terri tactfully kept this remark to herself.

As they approached, Charlotte and Vincent waved while the children ran up. They were quite a lot bigger than little Anna- why Terri had only just become pregnant near when Charlotte gave birth! People often wondered why Terri had chosen to be a single mother and chosen that time, but it had seemed right. When Charlotte gave birth it had made Terri wonder- she, too, was getting older and had always dearly wanted children. She had plenty of support from friends and knew it would be what Mitch wanted, even if it wasn't the best of times.

The picnic spot was shady and cool- nearby was a gentle creek. Terri spread her picnic rug as Charlotte and Vincent welcomed her. "Terri! It's great you could come! Just next to this one will be fine. I suppose you haven't seen Vincent for a while?" Terri returned Vincent's warm smile. "So how are things in the emergency department? Frank still giving you grief?" Vincent laughed. "That's our Frank! So how are you going? Doing alright?" Terri opened her mouth to reply, but noticed Anna shyly standing behind her legs. "This is Anna, Vincent. Anna, this is Felicity and Patrick's Uncle Vincent." Anna slowly emerged. "Hello, Anna! Felicity's told me all about you!" Anna slowly wandered forward. "Uncle Vincent is so cool!" Patrick exclaimed. Felicity started too. "Yeah, look Anna! He spins us around!" Terri grinned as Vincent picked up Felicity and twirled her around, to her squeals of delight. "Come on, Anna! Have a go! It's really fun!" Anna stepped forward, as Vincent heaved her up. "Here we go..." he exclaimed. When she heard Anna laughing and enjoying herself, Terri wandered to the picnic rugs and sat next to Charlotte. The pair laughed together, sharing antics of their adorable children. After a while, Vincent came over. "Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I'm exhausted! Can we start eating?" The kids laughed, as well as Terri and Charlotte. "Alright, Vinnie," said Charlotte, reaching for the picnic basket. "You have a rest." They had a nice lunch and afterwards Vincent again played with the children as Charlotte and Terri talked. As the sun was setting and they were packing up the cars to go home, Terri asked if Vincent had anything to report about the staff at All Saints, Charlotte's face suddenly clouded over. "What's wrong?" asked Terri. She knew there was something Charlotte didn't want her to know. "What's wrong?" As they stood within the cover of the cars, as Vincent was putting the kids in, Charlotte whispered urgently. "You won't guess... Jack's back." "What?" "He's back alright. He's been around about a week. Vincent told me." "Why? What with Kayla... and New Zealand..." Charlotte sighed. "He said it was over with him and Kayla and left her in New Zealand. Apparently he came back for you." Terri couldn't speak. Charlotte continued. "He says the thing with Kayla was just a fling, just to pretend to himself that he loved her. He says he's never stopped loving you, and this time is going to get you. Everyone told him about Anna and how things have changed, but he said he is determined. He said he'll even take her as his own to get you back." Terri was shocked, but saw something else stirring in Charlotte. She wasn't telling her something else, but Terri could guess. "He doesn't want anything to do with the twins, does he?" Charlotte paused, then burst into tears. "He says he'll just pay the paternity payments, and that's all. He says he never wants to see them or me again. He doesn't want to hear about them, either. He doesn't want to know how Patrick can kick a footy and how Felicity can read Green Eggs and Ham..." As Terri hugged a teary Charlotte, Vincent came round the corner. "What's going on..." he started, but then his face cleared. "Oh, Charlotte! It's not the Jack thing again, is it? You told Terri..." Terri started, annoyed. "Well don't I deserve to know, Vincent?" "Yes, Terri. But me and Charlotte agreed... we didn't want that damn bastard to wreck our day." Terri realised that Vincent didn't just dislike Jack. He hated him, with anger. That must have been why Charlotte hadn't said it in front of him.

"He comes back from New Zealand, proudly saying how he's going to entice Terri to get with him. He says he wants his claim, and will father Terri's child. Yet he just leaves my poor Charlotte...prick..." Charlotte put a hand on Vincent's shoulder. He stopped. His voice was softer. "Sorry, Terri, Charlotte... I am really sorry I didn't tell you Terri. It's just I didn't want to wreck the day and Jack's already caused enough trouble for Charlotte..." Terri swallowed hard. "I am so sorry, Charlotte. I didn't realise he had such a negative attitude towards..." "Oh, it's fine, Terri. I'm fine." Charlotte sniffled. "I manage. And I've always got Vincent, after all..." As Vincent and Charlotte hugged, Terri felt sad. She wished she had someone like that... someone beside her...

After a while Terri noticed Anna peering around the corner. She hoped she hadn't heard anything. Terri smiled and beckoned to her, so Anna ran up, and took her hand. Terri took a deep breath. "You just came round the corner then, didn't you sweetie?" "Yes, Mummy," said Anna, as Terri let out a sigh of relief. "Before I was playing games with Felicity and Patrick in their car."

It was getting late. As she broke out of her hug with Vincent, Charlotte turned to Terri. "Look, I'm sorry to end this in such an unhappy way..." "Oh, no, thankyou for telling me the truth. And thanks for such a lovely day! Anna really enjoyed herself." They bid their goodbyes to one another, and Terri went to her car and drove home, very confused and unsure. Late at night, Terri was once again wide-awake. She kept thinking of Jack, and his offer... she almost wanted to accept it... But no! She couldn't! After what he did to Charlotte...

But she found herself stumbling through the dark, and reaching into the rubbish bin, and smoothing out the crumbles in the photo. She found herself longing to be in his arms once more... she wanted him...


	3. Another day in Emergency

Terri took a deep breath as she entered the hectic Emergency Department. It had been a few months since she last did some casual work. The beep of the machines and vibes of the building soon brought her back from her time she had spent away from it. She headed to the front desk, where she received a warm welcome from Frank.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" he boomed. "Casual work, Frank." Terri replied. "Glad you're pleased to see me." She headed to the tearoom, and on the way saw many of her old friends and colleagues. They smiled at her, but didn't seem able to meet her eye. In the tearoom, Terri met Nelson. She was very puzzled to all her colleagues' reaction. They seemed… well… cautious of her, as though they were trying to avoid her.

"Hi Terri!" said Nelson. "Great to see you! How's little Anna?" Terri felt strange. Although he appeared friendly, Nelson seemed wary of her. Something in his eyes seemed like things weren't normal between the trusting friends. As Nelson turned to leave, it suddenly struck Terri that if Vincent had known about the whole Jack thing, everyone else must know as well. Jack must have blurted it in front of everyone! That was why everyone had been giving her strange looks. Humiliated, Terri headed for the ladies bathroom.

Gasping, Terri washed her face several times and dried it. She was going to encounter on Jack sometime. What would she do? He would want to know. Butterflies filled her stomach. She wanted to go with him, but after Charlotte and everything… oh, it was so hard. What would she do when she saw him? She finally emerged from the bathroom, worried. Surprisingly, Frank was the one who solved her problems!

"You needn't worry about lovey dovey romance while working today, Terri," he remarked. "Your Romeo is on another ward for the time being." Terri felt a rush of relief, but completely humiliated. Why did everyone have to know? They would be watching her every move, now. And she was still uneasy about the way Nelson was around her. They were good friends, and she didn't want that to change.

Terri was once again working hard, and it wasn't till her break when she noticed a little note in her locker. Carefully closing the tearoom door behind her, she read it, very unsure.

_Terri,_

_I know some things have changed but my love for you has not. Not a day has passed in the last five years when I have not thought of you. _

_Please, at least listen to my plea, I beg of you. I shall wait for you in the courtyard after work. Please come. That is all I can say. I love you, Terri. And I want you back._

_Jack._

Terri quickly turned around as she heard the door open and stuffed Jack's letter back into her locker. It was Vincent.

"Oh, Terri…" he said. "I didn't realise you were in here." "Oh, it's fine. Just leaving." Vincent didn't seem to take much notice of what she just said. It seemed his mind was on other matters as well.

Just as Terri was leaving, Vincent said out of nowhere: "Terri, how do you think Charlotte would feel if I started going out with someone else? Another woman, I mean. Would it upset her?" Terri was so surprised she could hardly speak. "Well… Vincent, you mean you've got a girlfriend?" Vincent flushed. "No, no, sorry just a passing thought. Don't worry about it," as he hurriedly left the room.

Terri was extremely puzzled by this, but with work and the whole Jack thing tagging at the back of her mind she didn't have time to think about it. Soon came the time Terri was dreading: end of work. She knew Jack would corner her… what would she do… what would she say… She took a big breath and strode out the doors, through the courtyard to the car park. Sure enough, Jack was there.

"Terri!" he said, delighted. "You came! I knew you would. Look, I know we need to talk but would you like to do it over dinner?" "Jack," said Terri firmly, though her legs were shaking, "I don't have time for this. I need to pick Anna up from kindergarten." After the few seconds silence, she turned to face him. "My daughter," she snapped. "And if you'll excuse me I have to go." She began to walk away, trying to stride strongly, but Jack's words stopped her. "I'll even father her for you, Terri. Surely you must of known?" She paused. She had to be strong… she could not give in… "Jack, if you don't mind, I have to go. I'm running late." She then left Jack standing there, speechless as she almost ran to her car. Once inside she burst into tears.


	4. Girls Night Out

Chapter 4- Girls' night out 

It was nearing the end of another day, as Terri watched Anna play in the back garden. She heard the phone ringing, and tried to take deep breaths. She went through this routine every time the phone rang. What if it was Jack? But to her relief, as she answered it, it was Charlotte's voice. But somehow now it made her feel uncomfortable, and guilty. "Hi Terri. I was just thinking… Vincent's babysitting tonight, and I was wondering if you want to go to the pub, you know, a bit of a girl's night out. You could bring Anna over." "Oh," Terri said, her mind still on other matters, "Yes, that would be good. I'm sure Anna would like it." "That's great." Charlotte replied. "Well if you want, just drop Anna over at my place and then the pair of us can go on. Sound good?" "Sure." Terri barely heard the rest of what Charlotte said. She ran her fingertips gently across the cold kitchen bench, carefully watching Anna in the sandpit. Finally Charlotte finished with: "I'll see you at 7 o'clock then," before hanging up. Terri lingered for a few seconds before putting the phone down. The cheeriness in Charlotte's voice seemed to taunt her. She trusted Terri, as a loyal friend, and… oh, Terri was so confused. Maybe a night out would at least help her forget about all that, at least for a little while.

It was just past seven, as Terri arrived at Charlotte's house. Terri paused for a second as she let Anna out of the car. She felt so strange. But then Charlotte rushed out the door to greet them, and Terri pushed all those awkward thoughts aside. She wouldn't let them spoil her night.

"Well, Terri, ready to go?" Terri looked Charlotte up and down, with her blow-dried hair, makeup on face, dangly earrings, necklace, revealing top and skirt and her high heels. Charlotte, too, looked at Terri and took in her falling out ponytail, grotty top, old pants, runners with holes and bare face. Neither said a word. Vincent too came out, took in the awkward silence and tried to break the ice.

"Um…you two ready to go? Or would you like a coffee, Terri?" "That would be nice." Terri sighed with relief. Charlotte did too, glad the tension was gone. "Oh yes, and Charlotte, could I borrow a hairbrush? I've been so disjointed today I forgot all about getting ready." "Of course!" said Charlotte. "I'll get some coffee, shall I?" asked Vince. Then, when no response came from either of them, he dashed off, muttering to himself: "Well I guess I will." Terri and Charlotte burst out laughing.

After ten minutes upstairs in the bathroom, Terri and Charlotte emerged, both now evenly as glamorous as each other. "You look beautiful, Mummy!" exclaimed Anna. Terri smiled, adding to the prettiness of her face. Vincent gasped and murmured: "Wow, Terri, you do…" but both Terri and Charlotte were too preoccupied to notice.

"Well, we better go!" said Charlotte happily. "Bye Flick, and Pat! Mummy loves you!" Terri hugged Anna tenderly before both her and Charlotte departed the house, leaving a somewhat stunned Vincent with three little kids pulling at him, and three cold coffees in his hands.

Once they arrived at the bar, Charlotte smiled and started conversation, while sipping her cocktail. "Ah, this reminds me of the old days! With all the colleagues, you know, in Ward 17!" Charlotte took a gasp as she just realised what she said and nearly spilt her drink. "Oh Terri, I'm so sorry! That was really insensitive." Terri stared blankly at the table. When she didn't reply, Charlotte looked at her empty glass and cleared her throat. "I'll get us some more drinks, shall I?" She then busied herself with some glasses and headed to the counter. When she returned, Terri gave her a smile. "Well, this is a girls night out! Tell me some gossip!"

Charlotte laughed, and then turned serious. "Well, Terri, I thought we could use this as a bit of an escape to the past. Before we had kids. Long ago, when I was married to Vincent and you were with Mitch…" Terri gave a sad smile. "I guess I have to get it off my chest… I haven't been able to sleep properly for a long time, you know Charlotte." "Well, I'll go first!" said Charlotte brightly. "Then you can follow on!"


	5. Revelations

Chapter 5- Revelations 

"The truth is, I feel really insecure at the moment. Vincent is so caring and supportive, yet there is this gap between us. I almost wish we were still married. We could have made it work, if only we'd tried harder. Oh, I don't know. We were young and foolish, and thought as long as we loved each other everything would be fine and marriage would be great. But it's so much more than that. I still love Vince as much as I did on that day, all those years ago, when we got married. But look at us now. In our thirties, good friends, but me a single mum with another man's children, from a one nightstand, and him completely alone."

"He must get sick of me. I mean, he must want to get on with his on life, you know, get married again maybe, have kids. But I am this strange burden that comes alone with him. You know? Maybe it would make other women jealous, us being so close. We are still so crazy about each other, deep down, but it is all too complicated to do anything about. I mean, imagine if it were simple, we'd just get married again and all would be great! But over these years the relationship had changed. To him, I'm more like a sister than a wife."

"We were so happy to start with, just like we'd always been before we were married, crazy lovers, spending all our time together. We were so nuts about each other! We had big plans for the future, it was all worked out. We'd focus on our careers and maybe travel a bit together, all that stuff you can't do with kids. We'd set up hospitals in third world countries, and really make a difference. It would be great! Then we'd settle down and start a family, and take an equal role in the parenting."

"But this marriage was doomed from the start. We never really had either family's blessing. Sure, they were happy for us, but were worried we were way too young for such a commitment. You know? They were so awkward about us from the start, if we were holding hands or standing next to each other, even when we were married. They'd look at us strangely, like we were shameful and doing something terribly wrong."

Terri smiled sadly. "I know what you mean. Mitch and me were childhood sweethearts. We grew up together, and we just forever destined to be together. But our parents were so disapproving. Me, a good Catholic girl, marry that rascal Stevens boy? No way! They let us stay together, thankfully, but we always felt like we were embarrassing to them or something. Oh I don't know, Charlotte. I am so regretful now. We were so stupid! We spent all that time chasing each other, when…" Tears started to flow down Terri's cheeks. Charlotte put a supportive hand on her shoulder.

"Look, Terri, I know it's hard, but…" Charlotte paused for a moment. "What is it Charlotte?" asked Terri. "Well, I don't want to seem to intrusive or anything… but as a friend from the outside, Terri, I think you've been bottling up all these thoughts for too long. It's driving you crazy, isn't it? Nibbling away inside you, you need to let some of it out. You're making it ten times harder for yourself. It's just going to get worse when Anna gets older and starts asking questions…"

Terri gave a small sniffle. "She did," she said "The other day, actually. She asked me so innocently, 'Mummy, how come everyone else has a Daddy and I don't?' Oh Charlotte! I didn't know what to say! It broke my heart. How can explain all the terrible things of the world to her?" Charlotte hugged her. "I know it's hard. But at least we've got each other, right?"

Terri smiled and wiped away her tears. "Well, what a happy night!" she said lightly. "But don't you feel better for it?" asked Charlotte brightly. "It certainly lifts the weight off your shoulders!" "Thanks, Charlotte! I know what you mean. I have to tell the truth to Anna, even if it's painful for me. I just feel so bad for all that time Mitch and me wasted foolishly chasing each other when we could of enjoyed it together. Why didn't we just follow our hearts…" "Look Terri, you can't blame yourself for the past. The most you can do is learn from your experiences, look to the future and live your life to the full. Don't waste the rest of your life longing for things, for then it's too late. Go for it, girl!"

Terri took this into her thoughts and pondered on it. Sure, it sounded very true and righteous, but if we just meant to 'go for it' like Charlotte had said and ignore the complications, then why didn't Charlotte get together with Vince? Because it was too complicated! The whole thing with this theory was it was hypocritical to itself. Terri sighed. Where was this getting her?


	6. Vincent's confider

Chapter 6- Vincent's confider 

It was a few days after she had gone out with Charlotte. Terri was working a shift at the hospital, but was on break at the moment. It was a beautiful day, so Terri sat out in the sunshine on one of the benches, sipping coffee. She was lost within her own thoughts until she was awoken by a shadow approaching and the sound of footsteps. She looked up.

"Hi, Terri," It was Vincent. He smiled at her. "Do you mind?" he asked, gesturing to the empty seat opposite her. "Not at all," she replied, grinning. "So how's Patrick and Felicity going?" Just then, the mood of the conversation changed. Vincent looked around anxiously. "Um, Terri, there's something I would really like to discuss with you. Get your opinion of. It's pretty important." "Oh, sure, Vincent, I've got fifteen minutes still." Now she was the anxious and wondering one. What on earth did Vincent, of all people, have to ask her? Surely something so important would be confided in Charlotte.

As though reading her thoughts, Vincent started: "You can't tell Charlotte. I can't tell her, not yet. I'm just asking you because you're such good friends." Terri was completely puzzled. Did anyone else think this was getting weirder by the minute? Something was stirring in the back of her mind, something she had heard earlier, but she couldn't quite reach it.

"You know how… um, you know how I said the other day about the thing with would Charlotte mind if I was with a woman and then I said it didn't matter?" Vincent blurted this out quickly. He was embarrassed. Terri took him in looking at his feet. She was worried. She was so, way, out of her depth here. But she listened. "Well, that wasn't true." Terri looked at him, confused. "The bit about it didn't matter. The thing is, Terri… I'm in love."

Whoa! Terri didn't know how to take this. Now she could tell why Charlotte hadn't immediately received this bit of information. This relationship, whatever it was, threatened Charlotte's world of her precious Vincent as a substitute partner. Terri didn't know what to say. Finally, she murmured: "What can I do, Vincent? Not to interfere or anything, but… um… who is this person? Does she feel the same way?" Vincent blushed deeply. "Well, Terri, I thought you could predict how Charlotte would react if I did go into a relationship, and… um, Terri… it's Cate." Terri moaned. Why was she stuck as some kind of judge in this awkward love triangle?

"Well, Vincent, I have to say… I don't personally think Charlotte would take it too well at all, actually…It's so hard for me to explain. She loves you, Vincent. You're her rock. If you started going into a relationship, that would mean less time with her, and no offence to Charlotte… but she does seem like the jealous type."

Vincent laughed nervously. "Yeah, I know, I know her better then anyone… oh Terri, what am I going to do?" They sat in silence, before Terri murmured: "But Vincent, if she is a true friend, she has to understand she has to let you go. I mean, she can't expect you to live the rest of your life as it is now. You might want to live your own life, you know?"

"I know, Terri, but I don't want to hurt her… how can I break the news? How can her make her not feel betrayed?" "I'm sorry I can't be more help, Vincent," Terri apologised. "But you just have to risk it. Charlotte will get over it… eventually. You can't risk your own happiness for her. She'll come to that realisation too."

Vincent looked at his watch, before jumping up. "Well, thanks Terri," he said. "Sorry I put you in such an awkward position." "Not at all," chimed Terri, though in her head she was thinking: how could you do this? Why did you have to ask me? Now Charlotte will hate the pair of us! But she just smiled. "Oh, and Terri…" Vincent blushed again, "Do you like these flowers?" He held up a bouquet he had kept hidden under the bench. They were the most beautiful roses. Terri could just imagine the look of delight on Cate's face. For some reason, this made her sad.

"They're lovely," Terri said softly. Vincent straightened his tie, and turned to Terri. "How do I look?" "Dashing," laughed Terri. "Go on, you'll do fine." So Vincent strode off happily into the distance. So why did Terri feel so miserable?


End file.
